Fine, suspension for bus driver in fatality

A remorseful Brian Agar apologized in court this week to the family of the woman he killed as he innocently turned his school bus onto Portage Avenue two years ago, trapping her under its wheels.

"I'm very, very sorry for their loss, for their stress, for their anguish that I have caused them," the 68-year-old Ager told provincial court Judge Marvin Garfinkel. "And I hope that someday they can find it in their hearts to forgive me."

FAMILY PHOTO

Gittel Goertzen

Garfinkel fined Agar $1,800 and suspended him from driving for two years in connection to the Dec. 20, 2010 death of Gittel Goertzen. He pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death under the Highway Traffic Act.

Goertzen, 67 at the time of her death, was crossing Portage Avenue at Sherbrook Street, walking to the north side of Portage, when she was knocked to the pavement by the front-passenger-side bumper of the bus Agar was driving.

Court was told Agar, turning east on Portage from Sherbrook, never saw Goertzen due to a blind spot.

As he continued, the bus's wheels drove over Goertzen. She was rushed to hospital, but later died. There were no passengers on the bus.

Agar, at the time a driver with Tony's Team Transport, had a spotless driver's record other than a speeding fine.

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